Portable self-contained commode



Dec. 7, 1954 2,696,012

0. W. HAHN PORTABLE SELF-CONTAINED COMMODE Filed May 25, 1951 OJ car W/70/7/7 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY United States Patent Cilice 2,696,012 Patented Dec. 7, 1954PORTABLE. SELF-CONTAINED COMMODE Oscar W. Hahn,.Houstn,.Tex. 7Application May 25, 1951-, Serial No. 228,279

21Cl'aimst (Cl. 4----Ill) This invention relates to a portableself-contained commod'e which is particularly useful'inhospitals;

Forcenturies, sick persons in hospitals and' homes have.

Patients Many capable young women have". undoubtedlyrefused torservehumanityby becoming nurses just because of the. onerous task of carryingand emptying patients bed pans. Yet; today, the bed pan is still in useand the need for a more satisfactory device than the 1 bed pan is stillpresent.

It is, therefore, an object of. thisinvention to provide a commode whichavoids the inconvenience and onerous aspects of the conventional bedpan.

Itis another object of this invention to providea commode whichisaself-contained unit;

Another'objectof this invention is'to provide a commode which hasatable-surface at bed level and which is portable:.

An additional object of thisinvention is to provide. a commode whichhasaflushing water supply, wastetank and toilet'bowl in self-contained-unittI A further object of this-invention is t'o provide a self containedportable commode which flushes by: gravity feed of the flushing water ina continuous fiow from the flushing water tank to the toilet bowl andthen to the waste tank included therewith.

Another object of this invention is to provide a threecompartmentcommode which includes an enclosed waste tank so that the necessity ofemptying the commode after each use thereof is unnecessary.

Other and additional objects will be readily apparent when the followingdescription is considered in connection with the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side sectional view of the gravity-feed commode of thisinvention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 22 of Fig. 1 and illustrates inparticular the waste tank in the gravityfeed commode.

Fig. 3 is a partial sectional view of the hand rail connection.

Following is a detailed description of this invention wherein likereference numerals are used on like parts in all figures of thedrawings.

Referring now to the details of the commode of this invention, it can beseen that a support or housing may be used to form the confines of thisself-contained unitary commode. Wheels 12 may be connected with thehousing 10 in order to render the commode of this invention portable.These Wheels 12 are preferably pivotable and an arrangement is used suchas the pivotable bars 14 which fit Within the guides 15 for each wheel.Each of the bars 14 is bent at right angles so as to form an axis foreach of the wheels. Each of the bars 14 used on the front wheels 12 isbent at right angles at the top portion or handle 16 and both handlesare interconnected by a steering rod 18 so that both handles 16 can bemoved simultaneously for steering the commode when it is moved. It willbe readily appreciated that pins 19 may be utilized to position thesteering rod 18 relative to the handles 16. Upon pivoting the handles 16and the connected wheels 12, the rod 18 will be movable therewith due tothe loose fit of the rod 18 on the pins 19. Thus, the wheels may becanted toward the bed to prevent forward movement of the commode.

The upper portion of the support or housing 10 constitutes a table 21which is at the same height as the bed surface, so that when: the:-commode: is pushedcontiguous.

tora bed, thebedr surface upon which a patient liesand the. table; 21.will form a continuous surface. This arrangement enables alpatienti toroll or otherwise slide.

he can be: rolled thereon by nurses or other assistants and at no timewill his body be uncomfortably raised;

above thezheightof the bed. In-fact, foradded comfort, a

back: rest. 22;. maybe pivotally' hinged to the table sur-- face.

Atithe; opposite end of the housing 10 from the back rest 22 it may be.desirable to have foot rests or supports 27. These foot rests27. may bemade adjustable in amanner similar'to that of the back rests 22, ifeonvenienti It is believed: readily apparent from observing the positionof the foot rests 27 in Fig. 1 that their anglemay be determined by theslope of the housing li'tlsatthatportion therebelow. It will beappreciated that instead of having two: separate foot rests 27, theremay bevernployed a: single foot'rest which extends across the entirewidth of the, housing 10'. Further, the length of these foot rests-27may. be made adjustable to accommodate different; people;

To safeguard patients when theyare moving onto the commode of" thisinvention and while thereon, it is desirable to; utilize a safety rail29; The details of a means for connecting the rail 29 to the housing 10are shown in Fi'g" 3" and itain'cliides a right-angle bracket 30' toreceive the:open end- 32' of the rail 29. These safety rails 29 thus maybe used on both: sidesv of the commode if desired and? may be: removedwhen a patient is getting on:oroifithe table. surface 21. In fact, thesehand rails 21 may have extensions: thereon to support a curtain forthe-privacy ofthe patient when using the commode.

On a horizontal portion of the table 21, the toilet seat 32 is located.The relationship of the toilet seat 32, the back rest 22 and the footrests 27 must be such that a person disposed thereon may be comfortablypositioned. Cushions or a padded surface may be added to the table 21,back rest 22 and foot rests 27 for added comfort. A washable material,such as a synthetic plastic like Vinylite or Koroseal," or a rubber.material may be used for cleanliness purposes.

Below the toilet seat 32 is positioned the toilet bowl 35. The toiletbowl 35 itself is made up of a sump section 36 wherein a small residueof fresh water Will always remain. It will be seen that this sumpsection 36 is below the level of the bowl outlet tube 38 so that liquidand waste therein will not pass through the bowl outlet tube 38 untilthe liquid level exceeds that of the level of the bowl outlet tube orpassage 41 which is formed by the lower part of the toilet bowl 35 and aflange 42 thereabove which extends down into the sump section 36. Towash down the sides 43 of the bowl 35, a spray 45 is provided which maytake many forms or modifications but is preferably of the perforatedring type as shown in the drawings.

A flushing water tank 53 of the gravity commode is located above thelevel of the toilet bowl 35 and a flushing valve 68 is located betweenthe flushing water tank 53 and the spray 45, so that when it is desiredto flush the toilet bowl 35, the patient merely opens the valve 68 topermit the flushing Water to pass through the spray 45. The waste fromthe toilet bowl 35 passes through the outlet passage or channel 41 andinto the waste tank 60. The odors are prevented from escaping from thewaste tank because of the odor trap created by the residue of water inthe channel 41, as explained above.

When the waste tank outlet valve is opened, the waste will run out bygravity. When it is desired to flush this gravity commode, a hose isconnected on the hose connection and a valve and with the waste tankoutlet valve 65 open, the waste in the tank 60 is thoroughly cleanedout. It can be seen from Fig. 2 that the Waste tank 60 for the gravitycommode has rounded corners to prevent any accumulation of waste withinthe tank 60. The tank 60 is supported by supports and 81 on the uprights85 or on the housing 10.

A pressure equalizer tubing 71 is interconnected between the tank 60 andthe supply tank 53. A filling cap 72 is provided in the top of thesupply tank 53. It can be seen from Fig. 1 that the tank 53 is suitablyinclined to serve as a support for the back rest 22.

The gravity-feed commode of this invention thus has a three-compartmentcombination of the toilet bowl 35, the flushing water supply tank 53 andthe waste tank 60. The three compartments are arranged so that gravitymay be utilized for feeding the flushing water, and therefore thecommode is especially suitable for use in places which do not haveelectricity or adequate electrical outlets, although its simplicitymakes it desirable in other circumstances.

It is believed readily apparent that a self-contained commode which isportable, is easily cleaned, and which eliminates the disagreeableaspects of the conventional bed pan, has been invented. Furthermore, thecommode of this invention is entirely self-contained.

Broadly, this invention contemplates a commode which is self-containedin that the pumping means and the waste tank are combined in a housingunit with the toilet bowl.

What is claimed is:

l. A gravity-feed self-contained portable bedside commode adapted toreceive a person thereon in a supported seated position, comprising asupporting frame having a plurality of vertically extending legs, awheel on each of said legs for permitting rolling movement of said frameon a floor in a building, a horizontal toilet seat mounted on said frameat substantially bed-heighth and upon which a person may sit, a toiletbowl supported by said frame below said toilet seat, a flushing liquidtank connected to said frame, means for conducting flushing liquid fromsaid tank to said bowl for flushing waste therefrom, a waste tanksecured to said frame below said toilet bowl and extendinglongitudinally therebelow and being substantially as long and as wide asthe length and width of said frame, said waste tank being elongate, withthe vertical depth thereof being very small as compared to the width andlength thereof, whereby said waste tank is capable of holding a largevolume of waste and flushing liquid while requiring only a smallvertical space, said waste tank also being substantially confined withinthe vertically extending legs of said frame so that changes in theweight of the liquid and waste in said waste tank will not affect thebalanced distribution of such weight to said legs and to said wheels,whereby tipping of said frame by such changes in weight is avoided, anodor trap confined between and connected to said outlet bowl and saidwaste tank to prevent odors from said waste tank from escapingtherefrom, whereby the waste and liquid can be retained in said Wastetank between uses of the commode without being offensive or unhealthy,said waste tank having its bottom positioned at substantially theheighth of the usual fixed commode in a building, and an outlet valve onsaid waste tank also positioned at substantially the heighth of theusual fixed commode for emptying the waste tank into such fixed commodewithout removing the waste tank from its secured position on said frame.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein said outlet valve islocated at one end of said waste tank, and an inlet valve on the otherend of said waste tank for admitting washing fluid into said waste tankwhen said outlet valve is open for thoroughly washing the interior ofsaid waste tank without removing same from its secured position on saidframe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 262,030 Farrell Aug. 1, 1882 818,821 Feely Apr. 24, 1906971,803 Tarnawski Oct. 4, 1910 1,155,550 Clarke Oct. 5, 1915 1,422,953Frank July 18, 1922 1,719,938 Kushner July 9, 1929 1,945,081 Ryan et a1Jan. 30, 1934 2,394,091 Merwin Feb. 5, 1946 2,428,462 Levin Oct. 7, 19472,564,135 Touchberry Aug. 14, 1951

